Trump to depart for Vietnam Monday, expects more progress

Donald Trump talks during an interview with Reuters journalists in the Oval Office. Photo by Reuters

U.S. President Trump has announced his departure to Hanoi, saying he expects talks with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un to make progress.

"I will be leaving for Hanoi, Vietnam early tomorrow for a summit with Kim Jong Un of North Korea where we both expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore, Denuclearization?" Trump said on Twitter on Sunday.

Trump and Kim will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, eight months after their historic first summit in Singapore in June. At the first meeting between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader, both sides pledged to work towards denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Delegations of hundreds of agents of both countries are already in Vietnam to ensure security for their leaders during the summit.

In the past week, the U.S. has sent several Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircraft to Hanoi, carrying equipment needed for the summit, including a helicopter and two cars that President Trump will use in Vietnam.

An unnamed U.S. official was quoted by Reuters as saying next week's meeting would be "similar in format to what we saw last June in Singapore... there will be an opportunity for the two leaders to see one another one-on-one" before holding meetings with their respective teams.